December 17, 2018 - 6:15am
Using a cast iron Dutch oven?
Based on recipes and youtube videos: Some place the loaf on parchment paper into a Dutch oven, using the parchment like a sling; some drop the loaf directly onto the cast iron.
I have a new Lodge 5 qt. cast iron Dutch oven which I hope to use for the first time very soon.
Are there any pros or cons about using parchment paper in the Dutch oven that I should consider?
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Parchment makes it easier, more gentle on the dough, and gives the baker more control over the process of putting the dough in a hot Dutch Oven.
Other than a little added cost, I don’t see any drawbacks to using it,
HTH
Dan
I have parchment; I'll use it!
Thanks.
The parchment paper will help you load the bread on to your hot cast iron more gently and won't do you any harm, so go for it!
The only time I tried it got stuck to the bread. Not sure what happened there, I keep seeing people using it but because of what happened to me I just turn the basket over the pan and drop the bread in there after having dusted the pan with some flour
Check the package again. Baking parchment will stick to raw dough but releases about half way thru the baking when the crust has set.
That really depends on the brand - my regular baking paper will stick to certain breads like you won't believe.
Some people have no problem with tossing dough directly into red-hot DO, some lack the dexterity to do it, or simply afraid. Some don't like the mess, because flour does fly all over the place. Some have discovered that their preferred brand of paper smokes in the closed DO, or gets stuck to the bread.
(I generalized the topic title as my new question is on Dutch oven use, albeit not about parchment.)
Is there any reason I oughtn't use the intended cover -- which can double as a frying pan -- as a shallow base, and the intended base as the cover? It'd make it easier to score the dough after it's loaded on board, at the cost of making it a bit more difficult to remove the cover during baking. Or should I score the dough while it's still in the banetton?
Using the cover as you state makes your DO much more like a cloche. I would do exactly what you ask about. Makes everything easier and safer.
Brec, not sure what you have . Do you have this dutch-oven or this combo cooker ? On the combo cooker, both the top and the bottom have handles, so it is pretty common to see many here use it with the flatter portion on the bottom. It is easier to load the dough than the traditional dutch oven, and it can be scored before you place the upper part on it, and it is easy to put the combo in the oven, then take off the top half part of the way through.
If you are going to be preheating cast iron dutch oven, or taking it out of the oven, get really good gloves. I am not a fan of the woven ones that are rated to very high temps, they work at first but the heat gets through to my fingers if I hold the cast iron for more than a very short time. These are pretty pricey, but they work great holding on to hot cast iron grill armor gloves
I have a slightly different Dutch oven (which was much cheaper on Amazon!) Each piece has small handles on either side rather than one extended handle. I did use it today with the smaller piece as the base.
I have silicone oven mitts; so far they've worked well.
Chucking the dough from banneton into a Dutch oven, then scoring it hot is a fool's errand (IMO)! Seems more akin to Baking Olympics. It's so easy to remove the dough on the parchment paper, score it, then transfer into the oven.
For mid-westerners Meijer parchment paper works great, can even use it more than once (but be careful!).